Historically Accurate
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: Martha suffers from racist abuse and the Doctor comforts her.


**Author's Note: I would like to state now that this is not Martha bashing. Racism is a serious offense and I think it's a disgusting form of bullying. Unfortunately in the time periods the Doctor had taken Martha to, she would and should have faced such abuse. It was historically inaccurate for them to not do it and is probably what made Human Nature so awful when there was some. This is my take on how the Doctor would help Martha through such a nasty situation. **

"Move out of the way" Martha ordered pushing through the crowd towards the Doctor. "I'm a healer, I can help"

They were in the last few years of Elizabeth's reign and went to see Shakespeare. Then of course everything went all mysterious around that lost play thing and now someone is dying.

Someone pushed her away. "Out of the way, you Moor"

She landed on the floor, mud splattering her face. "Who do you think you are, you black freak?" another voice yelled.

"A woman too. Woman ain't allowed ordering others around"

They began to crowd round her and she shivered in fear. "I think we should teach this slave some manners" a sneering voice said.

"Please..." she murmured. "Please don't"

"Oi!" a voice said from behind them. "Don't touch my slave or I'll make you pay for each bruise she has"

The crowd quickly disappeared and the Doctor draped his coat over her. "Are you ok?" he asked gently. She shook her head. "I'm so sorry Martha...i just forgot...i forgot about their attitudes...I'm so, so sorry"

She just kept shivering, her head resting against his shoulder as she cried.

DWDWDWDWDWDW

"You almost died" Martha whispered, "and it was my fault"

"Nonsense" the Doctor said firmly. "You were brilliant out there"

"They didn't listen to me" Martha snapped frustrated. "I tried to get them to listen to me. But even Tallulah ignored me most of the time. When they noticed my existence they just told me to shut my mouth. You know, segregation is still around there. I'm inferior to them. I almost didn't save Lazlo's life because that blonde bint didn't want 'dirty black hands to touch her sweetie', do you know how frustrating and painful that is for me? I'm a doctor, it shouldn't matter what colour my skin is just as long I save someone. You almost died. Lazlo almost died. Everyone almost died. All because of my skin"

Tears of hurt and frustration and sheer anger were rolling down her cheeks. She was no longer frightened by such racist people but now she had a strong urge to strangle them all. If Tallulah can still love a pig, then why couldn't she co-operate with a black woman? All maybe Tallulah privately hoped Lazlo would die so she wouldn't have the shame of being in love with such a monstrous looking creature. Martha's body shook in anger. She was furious at people being so ignorant and despicable. She count's her lucky stars that she was born in the time she was. Her hands were curled into fists and she wanted to hit something. Take her anger out on something.

"Coffee or tea?" the Doctor said suddenly.

"What?"

"Coffee or tea?" the Doctor repeated as if she was stupid. "What would you like to drink? After a bad day Rose always preferred a cup of tea and some chips. Comfort food. So what do you prefer?"

Her shoulders slumped at another mention of this Rose character but she couldn't help feel a little warm at the attempt to cheer her up. No matter how bad it was.

"Coffee. Black and very strong, maybe something greasy on the side. I like a good bacon sandwich" she said smiling.

"One coffee and a bacon sandwich coming up" the Doctor promised. "Any special bread or sauce?"

"White, very buttery, with tons of ketchup"

The Doctor nodded and then took her hand. To her it was a perfect fit; she felt a little tingling and couldn't help but smile slightly. She just hoped that maybe he could see more in her. More than this upset little girl who couldn't cope with some abusive words.

Within half an hour Martha was eating the best bacon sandwich ever. The coffee was a dream; it was bitter and strong and woke her up a little but didn't stop the tiredness that was settling in her body. Must be all that time travelling. She went to the past then to the future and then back to the past. It's probably been days for her and she hasn't noticed.

"Aha!" the Doctor said from the other side of the library. "I found it!"

"Found what?" Martha asked curiously.

"This" the Doctor said bounding through the library like an excited puppy as he waved a book around. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You're lucky Martha Jones; I never let anyone have a sneak peek in future culture. Just don't spoil it for anyone else"

A grin broke out on Martha's face. She loved Harry Potter; she always secretly wanted to go to Hogwarts. She thought she would be a brilliant Ravenclaw but now she wondered if she could fit in with the Gryffindors.

"I think the two of us would make great Gryffindors, don't you? Though I'm sure the hat would probably try to shove me in Ravenclaw or Slytherin with a mind like mine. Shove up" the Doctor said sitting down, Martha shuffled up on the sofa to make room for him as he rested his feet on the table and got comfortable. "Now then" he said opening the book, "chapter one; The Dark Lord Ascending. The two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other..."

Slowly Martha fell asleep as the Doctor's voice soothed her. It was a mix of amusement, thrills and just plain relaxing to hear him read.

The Doctor looked up to find her asleep and smiled. He put the book down and used his coat as a blanket for her. His hand stroked her hair briefly, it was coarse and yet rather soft.

"You are brilliant Martha Jones, just remember that" he whispered.

He then turned to leave the library with a sad smile on his face. It had been his fault that she suffered such emotional turmoil. He had been so used to getting his own way that he forgot how difficult it is for his companions. How many times has his female companions had difficulty in the past simply because they were a woman?

It was best, if he took Martha home now, that way she could get over it and move on as a stronger and better woman.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

And yet somehow she wanted to stay with him. She convinced him to take her on as a permanent companion. He then planned all trips to be in the future, preferably beyond the fifty first century where everyone is open about everything. In fact they had been invited to an orgy by some sort of half fly, half spider creature on their last journey. They turned the invitation down politely and then ran away quickly when they saw the strange creature invite a pot plant.

But then that bloody Family of Blood had to sniff him out. They just had to be immortal. They just had to make him go to the extreme. They just had to make him become John Smith. He hated them for many reasons. They killed many people needlessly and put him so close, on the verge of becoming domestic, to be normal...and then take it away from him. But that wasn't why he hated them so much.

They made him the monster that Martha hates.

John Smith was a proper man of the early twentieth century. He was born in the late nineteenth and was raised to think that while they were not slaves the African minority were definitely below the lower class of society.

He had abused Martha along with everyone else.

And he was supposed to be her friend.

He knocked on her door. "Martha?" he called out in a fake cheerful voice. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah" Martha said without any tone or emotion.

He opened the door and found her curled up on her bed in a thick dressing gown. Her hair was wet and loose; she had bunny slippers on her feet and was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She looked up at him with a bleak look and then looked back at her book.

"Martha" he said helplessly, "I'm so sorry"

"You're always are" she muttered.

He looked around her room. It wasn't cluttered or as comfortable as Rose's was but he had a suspicion that Martha tided her room constantly after that knickers moment when he dropped her off at her flat. He ran a hand through his hair and suddenly, as if it just came out of no where, he knew what to do.

"Get dressed" he said. "I got something to show you"

"Doctor, I'm tired and fed up. I just want to stay in-"

"I'll give you half an hour" he said practically skipping out of the room with excitement.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDW

"Well?" Martha said eyebrow raised and hands on her hips. "Where are we?"

He grinned at her. "Go out and see"

She sighed. Honestly she was too tired of his games right now. She just wanted her bed and maybe a bit more Harry Potter before she went to sleep. Walking out huffily Martha found herself in a crowd. They were all looking up at a man who walked on stage, the cheering and chanting was so loud that she had to cover her ears.

Then it went deathly silent and they all looked at him. From what she saw from the person next to her, it was with hopeful and admiring lines.

The man was nothing special to her. Just another good looking man with African ancestry. But then he opened his mouth and began to speak and her heart began to thud harder and louder at each word he uttered.

And then the best part that even she had memorised since she was a young child came.

"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today"

Just the raw passion from his voice had moved her. It made her want to reach out and have the world know how wrong they were to treat people like them the way they do. Tears were running down her face and she wiped them away with a smile.

"My god" she whispered. "Oh my god"

The Doctor took her hand. "That man there changes the universe" he said. "Martin Luther King is the start of everything. Equal rights for you lot, and then everyone else uses it for the others. Muslims, Jews, women...all of them starting to fight. In several centuries an enslaved alien race will reword this speech to get their own rights. That time we got invited to that open alien orgy? Well it's all because of this man. He started a chain of events that makes everyone so open minded"

The speech was drawing to an end and Martha was almost shaking with excitement and awe.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"

Martha applauded and screamed out her cheers as this man humbly thanked them and stepped off the stage. She whirled round and threw herself at the Doctor and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" she shouted in his ear. "That was wonderful!"

He laughed and spun her around before letting her go. "Well to be honest he wasn't that great, he stole bits of that speech of me when I went to see him ages ago"

"Like Shakespeare?" Martha said sniggering.

"Exactly like Shakespeare" the Doctor paused and looked around. "Want to go and meet him?"

"Can we?" Martha asked excitedly.

"Why not?" the Doctor said pulling out his psychic paper. "I got an invitation that would get me into every party"


End file.
